Got Your Back: Summer '26 Edition

On Thursday July 23rd, our community came together for Kid2Kid's Got Your Back, Summer Edition, backpack packing event, and what an incredible evening it was! We were thrilled to welcome more than 35 youth and adult volunteers who came together to pack 90 backpacks for children supported by the Red Door Family Shelter in Leslieville.

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Each backpack was thoughtfully filled with back-to-school essentials for students of all ages, from our littlest learners in JK and SK right through to high school students. Thanks to the generous support of MadeGood and our wonderful community partner, The Big Carrot, each backpack also included delicious, healthy snacks. The Big Carrot has long been a tremendous supporter of Kid2Kid, and we're honoured to have them continue supporting our initiatives.

As always, one of the most heartwarming parts of the evening was our Kindness Card Station, where youth volunteers wrote encouraging messages and words of support to tuck inside each backpack. We hope these notes remind every child receiving a backpack that their community is cheering them on.

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We were also so pleased to have Malavika from the Red Door Family Shelter join us for the evening. She has been an incredible supporter of our initiatives for many years, and it was wonderful to have her packing backpacks alongside our volunteers once again this year. We were equally delighted to welcome Toni, who has volunteered with Red Door for more than 10 years. It was so nice to have both of them working alongside our volunteers to help prepare the backpacks for the children and youth they support.

A heartfelt thank you to everyone who donated to sponsor one or more backpacks. Your generosity helps offset the costs of this program and helps ensure we can continue providing these much-needed supplies to children and families in our community.

The following morning, it was a pleasure to deliver the backpacks to the Red Door Family Shelter.

As always, their team was so kind, welcoming, and appreciative, and we're grateful to continue partnering with them to support local children and families. We also had a change to hang out with Paneer, the adorable dog volunteer there!

A very special thank you also goes to the Beaches Recreation Centre and their incredible team for so generously donating their space to us year after year. Their kindness, support, and willingness to open their doors to our community make events like this possible, and we're truly grateful for their ongoing partnership.

Thank you to everyone who volunteered, donated, and helped make this year's Got Your Back Summer Edition such a success. We look forward to seeing you again at our Winter Got Your Back backpack and winter tote packing session this February!